Okay, so I am literally forced to do my review, I was way too involved in the X-Factor this year and could not let my opinion pass on this. I even voted three times. I have never really been an X-factor fan, the last series I had watched was the one Alexandra Burke won. However this year was very different in our household, for the past few months every Saturday and Sunday night we were literally hooked. The only reason was because of two very talented Ghanaian rappers/Afro-Beat artists called Reggie and Bollie, and yes they being from Ghana was just the icing on the cake. When they first appeared on X-factor Simon Cowell said they had never been an act like them ever on the show, they turned the whole Wembley Arena upside down with their rap/Afro-beat song Turn It Up. Rita Ora was on her feet grinding to their beat. Cherly Fernandez called their energy infectious. The whole auditorium was literally bouncing. Against all odds Reggie and Bollie made it to the live X-Factor shows, and they continued to get the crowds bouncing. They delivered week after week, their highlight being their hip hop/Afro beat version of One Direction You Don't Know You Beautiful which was actually better than the original not to mention their tropical mash up of OMI Cheerleader which was the sweetcorn of the series, basically.
Reggie and Bollie were in the competition simply because they were rap/Afro- beat artists which is a very popular musical genre in Africa. Britain fell in love with them because no act like that had ever graced the X-Factor before. Not only could they rap, they had this infectious energy that always left the crowds jumping up and down. They brought a new flavour and genre to the British audience, Afro beat. The positive energy they emitted was just ridiculous, never ever seen on the X Factor. Music does not only mean singing high notes and being emotionally bla bla bla, rap and hip hop is also a genre of music that is appreciated worldwide, especially within the black community. It stands for rythm and poetry. And yes its also music. Whilst the other finalists like Che Chesterman and Loiusa Johnson bored us to tears with their over the top high notes week after week, Reggie and Bollie brought an element of charisma, charm and raw talent that actually made the show watchable this year. Not once did Reggie and Bollie ever fail to deliver as week after week they stayed consistent to their music genre. They always got the craziest reaction from the crowd, even my one year old baby Fadzi would literally get on her feet and bounce her little nappy like there was no tomorrow each time she heard Reggie and Bollie.
Yesterday at the Saturday live shows their performance with Craig David and Fuse ODG was actually the highlight of the night, with Craig David rapping in support of the duo. Fuse ODG, who is an Afro Beat artist flew all the way from Ghana to compliment their style of music, to which Simon Cowell even predicted they could win the show, they had same chance of winning the X-factor as vocalist Louisa Johnson. They even had more of the X-Factor than Louisa. Their Sunday night final first performance was so incredible, and at that time they were actually the winners of the show. The whole Wembley Arena where behind them, and Louisa Johnson never got half the reaction Reggie and Bollie got. The spirit and mood of X-factor was always determined by Reggie and Bollie. They danced and bounced, they rapped and jumped and they sang in afro beat style. They were certainly going to do their thing all the way to the crown....
Until of course, their final song. Something awful happened. I would call it a set up, but thats debatable off course. The Reggie and Bollie bubble suddenly burst. No one was expecting it. The electricity in Wembley just went out. Even my baby Fadzi was confused watching her favourite rappers suddenly attempt to be classical ballard singers. It was uncomfortable viewing. Cringe-worthy. It was confusing not only to Fadzi, but to the entire nation. Where was all the fun gone? The dancing..the jumping..and most importantly, the rapping? The Reggie and Bollie show was over. It was the saddest moment in X-Factor history, when the finalists for the first time had to sing a song completely outside of their genre. Its like making an Opera singer rap or sing kwaito. Does the X-Factor producers not know music come in different genres? Surely the producers of X-Factor knew Reggie and Bollie were Rap/ Afro Beat/ Hip Hop Artists, not Ballard Singers. Bob Dylan's song Forever Young is a classical song, and Reggie and Bollie had no business even attempting to sing that song. Would it have been fair if Louisa Johnson had been given a rap song as her final song? I'm sure they would have been riots in the United Kingdom.
That was just so wrong. The song was obviously for Louisa. Well bloody done X-Factor for choosing a perfect song to suit the perfect voice of Louisa at the expense of Reggie and Bollie. Chosen song to make Louisa win and the duo to fail. I'm rather surprised Cheryl Fernandez was actually okay with Reggie and Bollie singing a classical ballard. How sad. Reggie and Bollie could have won the X-Factor if they had finished the completion on the note they started, as rappers and Afro Beat artists. But sadly X-Factor chose to strip them off their title as rappers in their most crucial winning moment. I guess that was the X-Factor's way of saying in Britain we do not accept rap/ hip hop or Afro Beat as a music genre, if you want to win the X-Factor don't rap, sing like Louisa, even though you had been rapping and singing Afro Beat style for the last ten weeks solely for entertainment purposes.
Anyway, according to history and statistics, the runners up of the X-Factor always almost does better than the winners. Winning the X-Factor is always almost a curse. Not just the X-Factor but Britain's Got Talent too. Susan Boyle and One Direction are the biggest stars to ever come out of British Talent Shows, and none of them were winners. When a talent is there, nothing can over shadow that. I predict Reggie and Bollie not winning was actually a blessing in disguise. They will without a doubt become the biggest Afro Beat artists to come out of X-Factor. So in conclusion, Reggie and Bollie did not win the X-Factor because they were rappers, but we all know they were the true consistent winners of the show.
In Other News
In Scotland, serial sex offender Walter Masocha is now trying desperately to get the remaining witnesses for the upcoming trial where he is charged with several counts of sex offences to drop the charges, which is looking very unlikely. We all wait patiently for the trial...
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